Lars Svendsen sells businesses for €67m

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Lars Svendsen has sold Svendsen Sport and D.A.M. Tackle to a private equity group.

Lars Svendsen – owner of Danish fishing tackle giant Svendsen Sport – has sold the company and D.A.M. Tackle to a private equity group for 500m kroner (€67m.)

In a move that has taken the fishing tackle trade by complete surprise, Svendsen has sold the companies to Maj Invest, one of Denmark’s largest financial institutions.

News of the sale was first reported in the business section of the Danish daily newspaper Berlingskelast week. Confirming the acquisition to Angling International, Svendsen said: “I started the company when I was 18 and it is in my blood. It was not my plan to sell it now, but Maj Invest came up with a very good offer. I am 56 now and I had always looked to sell it at some point in the future.

“It was also incredibly important to me that my business would not be merged with a competitor and see it undergo all the horrors that combining two companies often deliver.”

Svendsen has invested 40m kroner (€5.4m) to secure a 15% stake in the company and will stay on as MD of Svendsen Sport. There will be no change of management at German tackle manufacturer D.A.M. “Everything will remain the same,” he said.

He added that he was looking forward to leading Svendsen, which boasts some of the best known brands in fishing – including Savage Gear, Prologic, Okuma and Scierra – to even further growth in the years ahead. He revealed: “We hold capital equity of 250m kroner which will be used to invest in the organic growth of our business through new product development and marketing initiatives.”